April 22, 2011 - New Yorkers hoping to avoid the nation's highest cigarette taxes have long turned to the Internet as a source for cheap smokes, but few bought as often, or as much, as Roza Budansky, according to city officials.

Over a three-year period, the 64-year-old purchased nearly $1 million worth of untaxed cigarettes from an Internet retailer in Louisville, Ky., said a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by the City of New York. In total, some 32,232 cartons were shipped to her modest apartment in Brooklyn, the suit claimed.

The city's lawsuit accuses Budanksy and 31 other people of evading millions of dollars in taxes by buying heaps of cigarettes over the Web from Chavez Inc., which was raided and effectively shuttered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in late 2009.

Lawyers for city said the variety and quantities of cigarettes involved made it clear that the cartons were being resold on the black market as part of a tax evasion racket.

Each of the defendants was listed in company billing records as having bought thousands of cartons - far more than they could smoke themselves. Budansky's orders, the suit said, were for 22 different brands and were placed 10 to 15 times a month.

The suit seeks $6.5 million in unpaid taxes from Chavez and its major New York City customers, plus $13 million in penalties.

Attorneys who have represented the company's principal owners, Israel and Pam Chavez, in past legal proceedings said Thursday that they hadn't seen the complaint and didn't yet know whether their clients would comment.

In January, the company lost a legal appeal in which it had challenged the seizure of its bank accounts and assets. In court, the company had acknowledged that it didn't collect taxes on out-of-state cigarette purchases but argued that it wasn't required to do so.

Justice Department lawyers said the company had $132 million in online sales over just a few years. They had argued that the company's key sin wasn't the failure to collect taxes, but its refusal to comply with a law requiring it to report purchases to state officials, so that customers could eventually be billed at their local tax rate.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Budansky by phone and through social networking messages were not immediately successful, but she told The New York Post in an interview published Thursday that she was innocent.

April 21, 2011 - By 2020, every state may have bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and the workplace, federal health officials predicted Thursday Apil 21st, based on the current pace of adopting anti-smoking laws.

The number of states with comprehensive indoor smoking bans went from zero in 2000 to 26 in 2010.

"It is by no means a foregone conclusion that we'll get there by 2020," said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.

But the success of the smoking ban movement has been astounding, and seems to be accelerating, he added. "I'm relatively bullish we'll at least get close to that number."

Nearly half of U.S. residents are covered by comprehensive state or local indoor smoking bans, the CDC estimated, in a new report.

Another 10 states have laws than ban smoking in workplaces, bans or restaurants, but not in all three venues.

Some other states have less restrictive laws, like requiring smoking areas with separate ventilation.

.Only seven states have no indoor smoking restrictions, although some of their cities do: Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Gary Nolan, director of a smokers' rights group, said he wouldn't be surprised if the CDC's prediction came true. Public health officials and others have been putting tremendous pressure on bars and businesses to bar smoking, he added.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they prevailed," said Nolan, of the Smoker's Club. "It's just a little bit more liberty slipping away at the hands of big government."

Tobacco smoke is an established cause of lung cancer, heart disease and other maladies, and smoking has been called one of the nation's leading causes of death.

The science on the impact of smoking bans is younger. Because it takes years or even decades for cancers to develop, there's little information on the impact of bans on cancer rates. But studies have already charted declines in adult heart attack rates and in childhood asthma attacks after smoking bans were adopted in some communities.

The American Heart Association's chief executive, Nancy Brown, said the CDC report brings good news. But she said advocates have a lot of work ahead of them to make the 2020 prediction come true.

"It's too soon to rest on our laurels," she said, in a prepared statement.

April 21, 2011 - Ukraine has one of the highest numbers of smokers in Europe, with most people starting by the age of 12.Doctors say smoking-related diseases kill around 100,000 people each year. But according to the Ministry of Health, the number of smokers in Ukraine has decreased by 5% in the last year, compared with the previous year.

The main reasons may be the increase in excise taxes and the prices of tobacco products, the restriction on public smoking and the prohibition of direct advertising. Ukraine has one of the highest numbers of smokers in Europe, with most people starting by the age of 12. Doctors say smoking-related diseases kill around 100,000 people each year. But according to the Ministry of Health, the number of smokers in Ukraine has decreased by 5% in the last year, compared with the previous year.

The main reasons may be the increase in excise taxes and the prices of tobacco products, the restriction on public smoking and the prohibition of direct advertising.

April 21, 2011 Meanwhile, as Mr. Symanczyk and Chief Executive Officer of Altria Group, Inc. pointed out, Marlboro gained share as the quarter progressed, but Marlboro's 2011 first-quarter retail share decreased 0.5 share points due primarily to the timing of new product launches. Marlboro's 2010 first-quarter retail share benefited from the January introduction of two Marlboro Special Blend products, while two new Marlboro Special Blend products, which began shipping at the end of February 2011, had a minimal impact on the brand's retail share in the first quarter of 2011.SQPhilip Morris USA's retail share for the three-month period decreased 1.2 share points.

Altria Group results outside of cigarettes:

Overall. In the first quarter of 2011, Altria's net revenues decreased 2.0% to $5.6 billion due primarily to lower net revenues from cigarettes and cigars, and revenues net of excise taxes were essentially flat.

Smokeless.The smokeless products segment's 2011 first-quarter financial, shipment volume and retail share comparisons were impacted primarily by new product launches and promotional product introductions. The smokeless products segment's 2010 first-quarter results benefited from the launch of new Copenhagen products, the national introduction of Marlboro Snus and a Skoal Slim Can pouch promotion. In the first quarter of 2011, the smokeless products segment's net revenues and revenues net of excise taxes decreased 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, due primarily to lower shipment volume and costs for brand-building initiatives, partially offset by higher pricing.

Cigars. The cigars segment's 2011 first-quarter financial results were negatively impacted by events following the 2009 federal excise tax (FET) increase on tobacco products. Middleton saw increased competitive activity, including significantly higher levels of imported, low-priced machine-made large cigars. Middleton responded with promotional investments to defend its position in the marketplace. In the first quarter of 2011, the cigar segment's net revenues and revenues net of excise taxes decreased 13.3% (from $135 million to $117 million) and 24.1% (from $87 million to $66 million), respectively, due primarily to increased promotional investments.

VVENA, Germany, April 19 (UPI) -- Telling teens to "just say no" is not effective but school-based training on live skills helps them avoid tobacco and alcohol, German researchers say.

PAPER: Do Girls Profit More? Gender-Specific Effectiveness of a Life Skills Program Against Alcohol Consumption in Early Adolescence, arina Weichold karina.weichold@uni-jena.de,Anett Brambosch, Rainer K. Silbereisen, The Journal of Early Adolescence November 4, 2010, abstract

"Information alone is not good enough because even children know that alcohol consumption and smoking can cause health damage," Dr. Karina Weichold of the Jena University in Germany says in a statement. "Therefore prevention needs to start somewhere else."

Weichold and colleagues at Jena University are developing a specially developed prevention program named IPSY -- an acronym for Information and Psychosocial Competence, which tries to convey basic life skills.

The study involved about 1,700 school children ages 10-15 from Thuringia, Germany. The students learn general skills such as how to deal with stress and anxiety or with their own self image, using interactive learning modules. They discuss their results with classmates and teachers.

Role playing, movement and relaxation techniques are part of the concept. The program consists of 15 modules of 90 minutes in fifth-grade, followed by a development phase of seven modules in the next two years.

"The age-typical increase in the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes is lower in the group of pupils who took part in our program than in the control groups," the researchers say. "Moreover, the initiation age is being delayed."

Bismarck voters said no to smoking on Tuesday, April 9th, 2011. Voters chose to make all bars smoke-free in a special referendum election. They also rejected allowing smoking huts for bar patrons wishing to puff outside

The ban is expected to take effect next week, after ballots are verified by the Bismarck City Commission. That could be next Tuesday or April 27, said city administrator Bill Wocken. "The commission will decide," he said.

The smoking ban for all bars, truck stops and tobacco shops passed with 5,273 yes votes to 3,554 no votes, said Burleigh County Auditor Kevin Glatt. The measure that allowed smoking huts, but implemented the smoking ban, was rejected 4,482 to 4,285.Voters opposed paying for the special election with sales tax funding 4,454 to 4,182.

"We are truly excited. It was truly a grassroots effort. We want to thank all the volunteers who helped," said Kimberlee Schneider, spokeswoman for the Smoke Free Bismarck and American Lung Association in Bismarck. She said Bismarck "took a big step toward being a clean city and making sure everyone has the right to breathe clean air."

Supporters of the bar workers who organized the referendum against the ban were disappointed about the new restrictions. Their spokesman, Keith Holzer, thanked the bar workers for stepping up to the plate and the businesses that supported the anti-ban campaign. "This is going to cost jobs, and cost revenue and charitable gaming. ... The citizens got their chance to vote. I hope all those people support those bars when they go smoke-free," Holzer said.

City attorney Charlie Whitman expects the commission will officially receive the ballots at next Tuesday's meeting that begins 5:15 p.m. at the City/County Building. The ban would go into effect April 27 if commissioners validate the ballots.

Glatt said about 8,838 ballots were cast Tuesday. In the June 2010 election when voters elected the city commission, park board and school board, some 11,700 ballots were cast.

Most of the people waited an average of eight to 12 minutes to vote at the VFW Sports Center, Glatt said. "The longest wait was 30 minutes. A lot of that was because people didn't have proper ID. It required more work from the clerks to enter them into the system," he said.

"Between 2:30 and the close of the polls (7 p.m.) we averaged 300 voters per precinct - five a minute. At 7 p.m. all those standing in line were able to vote," he said.

He said the last voter at the VFW Sports Center left at 7:30 p.m.

Witnesses said some frustrated voters turned around at the Bismarck Civic Center site. Some voters reported waiting 45 minutes at the Civic Center.

Glatt was pleased with the trial run of the voting center concept.

"I think it was a very good test of vote centers. It's something we'll sit down and take a look at, things we learned today. I think it was a valuable experiment. We received a lot of positive comments. We received some criticism and we'll use that constructively," Glatt said.

Of the count, there was a healthy level of absentee voters - 1,700 requested and about 1,200 were returned, Glatt said.

Apil 20, 2011 - Hartford, CT) –Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)today expressing support for their continued work to protect public health through the “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace.”

Blumenthal encouraged the FDA to continue work to follow up on recommendations from a report from the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) regarding menthol cigarettes.

“Such findings about the dangers of menthol tobacco products in general, and to our youth in particular, are highly concerning, and provide abundant grounds for FDA to develop a plan that will result in the removal of menthol from tobacco products to protect public health,” Blumenthal states in the letter. “It is well documented that the restriction of access to tobacco products directly impacts youth smoking rates and that FDA should take strong action to prevent tobacco companies from using menthol cigarettes to increase the number of youth who smoke.”

The TPSAC Committee found evidence that tobacco companies often include menthol flavors in their products both to entice certain demographics – such as young children and teens – to use tobacco, and to make it harder for them to quit.

Blumenthal has a long record of fighting to protect public health as Attorney General, and helped lead the legal fight against big tobacco culminating in an historic settlement in 1998 which included restrictions on direct tobacco advertising to children, resulting in a dramatic drop in youth smoking rates in Connecticut and around the country.

Tak nak = Don'tr Want..APRIL 20, 2011 PETALING JAYA: British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT Malaysia) expects its challenging operating environment to continue this year. BAT Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said the challenge was still declining volumes, in view of the high government excise tax which has led to an increase in the trade of illicit cigarettes.

BAT Malaysia managing director William Toh reiterated that two surveys conducted last year by the Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers showed that illicit trade comprised 38.2% of the country's total cigarettes market.

“This is a sizeable portion of the market for us to tap if we can resolve the illicit cigarette trade issue,” said Toh after the group's 50th AGM yesterday.PETALING JAYA: British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT Malaysia) expects its challenging operating environment to continue this year.

“This is a sizeable portion of the market for us to tap if we can resolve the illicit cigarette trade issue,” said Toh after the group's 50th AGM yesterday.

BAT Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said the challenge was still declining volumes, in view of the high government excise tax which has led to an increase in the trade of illicit cigarettes.

“This is a sizeable portion of the market for us to tap if we can resolve the illicit cigarette trade issue,” said Toh after the group's 50th AGM yesterday.

Toh added that prices of cigarettes in Malaysia was the third highest in Asean countries, after Singapore and Brunei.

Last year, the group took advantage of duty savings under the by sourcing wrapping materials and tobacco leaves from neigbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

“Tobacco leaves from Indonesia is much cheaper compared with non-Asean countries. But we still support local tobacco growers although Malaysian leaves is among the most expensive in the world.

“We are still the biggest buyer of Malaysian tobacco in the country,” said Toh.

This year, the group aims to double its export volume to 30% of its annual production.

Toh said new contract customers this year are BAT Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

“This is in addition to our exports to Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as for duty-free retail. Exports should contribute about 5% or 6% to group revenue this year.”

April 20, 2011 Reynolds American Inc., the nation's second-biggest cigarette company, reports its first-quarter results before the stock market opens Thursday, April 21st. (host first-quarter 2011 earnings conference call on April 21st, 2011)WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Continued growth in Reynolds American Pall Mall brand despite industrywide declines in the number of cigarettes being as taxes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma all increase.

The Winston-Salem, N.C., company has promoted Pall Mall as a longer-lasting and more affordable cigarette as smokers weather the weak economy and high unemployment, and the company has said half the people who try the brand continue using it. Reynolds also sells Camel and Natural American Spirit cigarettes, and Kodiak and Grizzly smokeless tobacco.

While its growth brands like Camel and Pall Mall continue to do well, increasing 13.5 percent last quarter, its other brands are dragging down overall volumes, which fell about 5 percent in the fourth quarter.

Enforcement would not be strict and would likely come by raising awareness about the ordinance, Varela said.,

"We all know realistically we're not going to have police out there enforcing this," Varela said. "A big push in public health is creating awareness."

The health department has offered to help the city with its anti-smoking campaign at no charge by:

Providing tobacco-free signs for property.Helping organize events to raise awareness about the hazards of smoking.Supplying brochures about smoking and contact information for the Florida Quitline, a telephone service that provides counseling, nicotine patches and other services to smokers trying to quit.Offering city employees services to help them quit smoking.

Vice Mayor Suzanne Mulvehill said she worried that establishing a tobacco-free beach would discourage some people from coming.

She dropped her concern after hearing health department statistics showing that more than 80 percent of county residents are non-smokers.

"It's going to be part of reinforcing that we are a green, living city," Mulvehill said .

Resident Erica Whitfield urged commissioners to develop the tobacco-free ordinance, noting that she was tired of removing cigarette butts from the sand while building sand castles with her daughter .

Barbara Jean Weber, a smoker, urged the commission to ban smoking at the beach.

"The beach is a gorgeous, exquisite, living thing," Weber said. "When I go to church, I don't put my cigarette out on sacred ground."

Strong campaigns against pregnant women smoking and being exposed to secondhand smoke are well-known, but toxins remaining on surfaces and clothing or so-called “thirdhand smoke” can also be dangerous. New research has found that thirdhand smoke has a harmful effect on the lungs of a developing fetus.

Stepping outside to smoke a cigarette may not be enough to protect the lungs and life of a pregnant woman’s unborn child, according to a new study in the American Journal of Physiology.

PAPER: Thirdhand Smoke: A New Dimension to the Effects of Cigarette Smoke on the Developing Lung, Virender K Rehan vrehan@labiomed.org, Reiko Sakurai, and John S. Torday , American Journal of Physiology accepted in final form 8 April 2011. ,abstract

The study, by researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), found prenatal exposure to toxic components of a newly recognized category of tobacco smoke—known as “thirdhand smoke”—can have as serious or an even more negative impact on an infants’ lung development as postnatal or childhood exposure to smoke. Thirdhand smoke is the newly formed toxins from tobacco smoke that remain on furniture, in cars, on clothing and on other surfaces—long after smokers have finished their cigarettes.

“Thirdhand smoke is a stealth toxin because it lingers on the surfaces in the homes, hotel rooms, casinos and cars used by smokers where children, the elderly and other vulnerable people may be exposed to the toxicants without realizing the dangers,” said Virender Rehan, MD, a principal investigator at LA BioMed and corresponding author of the study. “Pregnant women should avoid homes and other places where thirdhand smoke is likely to be found to protect their unborn children against the potential damage these toxins can cause to the developing infants’ lungs.

Dr. Rehan, a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator who has been researching the effects of smoking on lung development for more than a decade, said this is the first study to show the exposure to the constituents of thirdhand smoke is as damaging and, in some cases, more damaging than secondhand smoke or firsthand smoke.

“We looked at the mechanisms that drive normal lung development and found those mechanisms were clearly disrupted by thirdhand smoke,” he said. “Based on this, we can conclude that prenatal disruption of lung development can lead to asthma and other respiratory ailments that can last a lifetime.”

Thirdhand smoke is aged secondhand smoke, and it attaches to the surfaces in homes and other surroundings. It is composed of smaller, ultrafine particles with a greater molecular weight that pose a greater asthma hazard than firsthand or secondhand smoke. Although concerns about the dangers from thirdhand smoke have been raised recently, this new study is the first to provide biological data to support these concerns.

Dr. Rehan said touching surfaces contaminated with thirdhand smoke, as well as ingesting dust containing the superfine particles of thirdhand smoke, are the most likely major pathways for exposure to these toxins.

“Children and pregnant mothers in busy households are especially susceptible to thirdhand smoke exposure because they could touch or breathe in the toxic substances from contaminated surfaces,” he said. “Among infants, it has been found that the rate of ingesting dust is more than twice that of adults, making babies especially vulnerable to the effects of thirdhand smoke.”

He also noted that nicotine levels are six times lower among infants living in homes with strict no-smoking policies.

“The dangers of thirdhand smoke span the globe because smoking is more prevalent in many other countries than it is in the United States,” he said. “While further study is needed, the alarming data clearly highlight the potential risks and long-term consequences of thirdhand smoke exposure.”

While previous studies had documented the danger of nicotine in thirdhand smoke, this new study measured the effect of two other toxins in thirdhand smoke—1-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridinyl)-4-butanal (NNA) and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK). The researchers found prenatal exposure to thirdhand tobacco smoke components plays a much greater role in altered lung function in offspring than postnatal or childhood exposures.trong campaigns against pregnant women smoking and being exposed to secondhand smoke are well-known, but toxins remaining on surfaces and clothing or so-called “thirdhand smoke” can also be dangerous. New research has found that thirdhand smoke has a harmful effect on the lungs of a developing fetus.

Stepping outside to smoke a cigarette may not be enough to protect the lungs and life of a pregnant woman’s unborn child, according to a new study in the American Journal of Physiology.

The study, by researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), found prenatal exposure to toxic components of a newly recognized category of tobacco smoke—known as “thirdhand smoke”—can have as serious or an even more negative impact on an infants’ lung development as postnatal or childhood exposure to smoke. Thirdhand smoke is the newly formed toxins from tobacco smoke that remain on furniture, in cars, on clothing and on other surfaces—long after smokers have finished their cigarettes.

“Thirdhand smoke is a stealth toxin because it lingers on the surfaces in the homes, hotel rooms, casinos and cars used by smokers where children, the elderly and other vulnerable people may be exposed to the toxicants without realizing the dangers,” said Virender Rehan, MD, a principal investigator at LA BioMed and corresponding author of the study. “Pregnant women should avoid homes and other places where thirdhand smoke is likely to be found to protect their unborn children against the potential damage these toxins can cause to the developing infants’ lungs.

Dr. Rehan, a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator who has been researching the effects of smoking on lung development for more than a decade, said this is the first study to show the exposure to the constituents of thirdhand smoke is as damaging and, in some cases, more damaging than secondhand smoke or firsthand smoke.

“We looked at the mechanisms that drive normal lung development and found those mechanisms were clearly disrupted by thirdhand smoke,” he said. “Based on this, we can conclude that prenatal disruption of lung development can lead to asthma and other respiratory ailments that can last a lifetime.”

Thirdhand smoke is aged secondhand smoke, and it attaches to the surfaces in homes and other surroundings. It is composed of smaller, ultrafine particles with a greater molecular weight that pose a greater asthma hazard than firsthand or secondhand smoke. Although concerns about the dangers from thirdhand smoke have been raised recently, this new study is the first to provide biological data to support these concerns.

Dr. Rehan said touching surfaces contaminated with thirdhand smoke, as well as ingesting dust containing the superfine particles of thirdhand smoke, are the most likely major pathways for exposure to these toxins.

“Children and pregnant mothers in busy households are especially susceptible to thirdhand smoke exposure because they could touch or breathe in the toxic substances from contaminated surfaces,” he said. “Among infants, it has been found that the rate of ingesting dust is more than twice that of adults, making babies especially vulnerable to the effects of thirdhand smoke.”

He also noted that nicotine levels are six times lower among infants living in homes with strict no-smoking policies.

“The dangers of thirdhand smoke span the globe because smoking is more prevalent in many other countries than it is in the United States,” he said. “While further study is needed, the alarming data clearly highlight the potential risks and long-term consequences of thirdhand smoke exposure.”

While previous studies had documented the danger of nicotine in thirdhand smoke, this new study measured the effect of two other toxins in thirdhand smoke—1-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridinyl)-4-butanal (NNA) and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK). The researchers found prenatal exposure to thirdhand tobacco smoke components plays a much greater role in altered lung function in offspring than postnatal or childhood exposures.

>PAPER: Thirdhand Smoke: A New Dimension to the Effects of Cigarette Smoke on the Developing Lung, Virender K Rehan vrehan@labiomed.org, Reiko Sakurai, and John S. Torday , American Journal of Physiology accepted in final form 8 April 2011. ,abstract

April 19. 2011 In the last year, smoking in Bulgaria is down to 591 cigarettes per person, compared with 778 in 2009, according to data of the National Statistics Institute, NSI.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages is also down – from 25.5 liters in 2009 to 23.6 liters in 2010.

In 2010, Bulgarian households have increased their consumption of bread by 2.1 kg, compared to the previous year, reaching 108 kg per person.

The trend to eat more meat, fish, seafood, and vegetables remains, with 32 kg of meet per person, compared to 30.7 in 2009.

In 2010, the average Bulgarian drank 19.9 liters of milk, 1 liter less than in 2009, but increased the consumption of yoghurt to 28.9 kg, from 26.8 kg in 2009.

The consumption of vegetables is up from 68.4 per person in 2009 to 69.1 in 2010, but the one of fruit is slightly down, by 800 grams to 42.5 kg per person in 2010.

"We want a total ban of smoking in public, and we must become a non-smoking Bulgaria," Konstatinov said on the Bulgarian national radio pointing out that Bulgaria is second only to Greece in the percentage of smokers, and first in the EU on the percentage of smokers between 15 and 20 years of age. (Bulgarian Health Minister Demands All-out Smoking Ban..)

A recent wave of state tobacco tax increases, designed to pump revenue into cash-strapped local governments, is inspiring an increasingly dangerous cigarette smuggling industry where big profits lure violent criminal gangs and drug traffickers into the booming illegal market, according to law enforcement officials and court records.

Larry Penninger, acting director of the tobacco diversion unit of theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), says investigations and prosecutions involving tobacco trafficking have been increasing as smugglers flood high-tax states with cigarettes from low-tax states.

From 2007 to last year, 27 states raised their cigarette taxes, according to Michigan's Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which closely tracks tobacco tax rates across the country. Mackinac describes tobacco smuggling as an "unintended consequence of high cigarette taxes."

There is so much illicit money to be made, Penninger says, that some drug and weapon trafficking organizations are adding tobacco to their product lines to boost profits. For example, in low-tax states such as Virginia, where cigarettes cost about $4.50 a pack, smugglers can sell a truckload (typically 800 cases) in New York at $13 a pack. New York is the highest tobacco taxing jurisdiction in the country.

Smuggling costs states and the federal government about $5 billion, according to U.S. government estimates. "Everybody out there (involved in illegal trafficking operations) is tapping into tobacco,'' Penninger says.

Since 9/11, much of federal law enforcement has focused on terrorism, but tobacco smuggling is attracting fresh interest.

- Last year, the ATF reported 357 open cases involving tobacco smuggling, compared with a handful a decade earlier.

- During the 2010 fiscal year, the Justice Department reported 71 new prosecutions referred by the bureau, a 39% increase from the year before, according to records compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York.

- Seizures of cash and property also have been rising, from $11 million in the 2007 fiscal year to $31.5 million in the 2009 fiscal year.

"[The] fact remains that second-hand smoke is harmful. The level of exposure can determine a person's risk and you could imagine many would like to have the choice that their home be a safe haven - something that poses quite a challenge in a shared setting such as apartment blocks," she said.

But Tim Vine, the director of Civil Liberties Australia, says tobacco is legal and people should be entitled to use it in the privacy of their homes.

"They shouldn't be excluded from a community because they engage in a legal activity," he said.

"While I understand people wouldn't want second-hand smoke coming through their apartment buildings... people will just have to learn to live alongside each other.

"We shouldn't be turning to the law to settle disputes between neighbours."

Cameron Murphy, the head of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, fears a ban on smoking in units could trigger a broader crackdown.

"It's perfectly alright to ban smoking where it affects another person's enjoyment of their lot but it's got to be something that is more than a mere annoyance," he said.

"Can the body corporate really dictate what people are entitled to do inside their lot? If it's found that they can, what's next?

"It's a slippery slope. If an owners corporation doesn't like people cooking because it doesn't like the smell of cooking wafting from apartment to apartment, will they ban it? "Drinking coffee, what you do in the bedroom... will they ban that?"

The World Health Organization has warned health professionals working in tobacco control not to become too closely involved with drug companies that produce smoking cessation products.

The warning came last month at a meeting on smoking prevention in Madrid that was hosted by the National Committee to Prevent Smoking, which represents most Spanish anti-tobacco organisations, and which was sponsored by Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and McNeil—all of which make treatments to help smoking cessation.

Apil 18, 2011 - This amount includes approximately $267 million that PM USA disputes it owes as a result of the 2008 Non-Participating Manufacturer (NPM) Adjustment. )

As permitted by the terms of the MSA (Tobacco Master settlement agreement;, PM USA paid the disputed amount into a Disputed Payments Account pending final resolution of the 2008 NPM Adjustment dispute. "We continue working towards a resolution of the Non-Participating Manufacturer Adjustment dispute for 2008 and prior years and look forward to doing so, either by settlement or through the arbitration process laid out in the Master Settlement Agreement," said Denise Keane, Altria Group, Inc. executive vice president and general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. "PM USA determined that the best decision at this time was to place the disputed money into an escrow account where it will be available, with earnings, to whoever prevails in the 2008 NPM Adjustment dispute." Since 1997, PM USA has paid more than $55 billion to the states (MSA and Previously Settled States combined), which included payment of disputed amounts for the 2003-2007 NPM Adjustments that PM USA was entitled to withhold or pay into a disputed payments account under the MSA. The NPM Adjustment Proceedings Background The Master Settlement Agreement is a contract between Participating Manufacturers and the Settling States that establishes certain rights and obligations for each of the parties. The amount each Original Participating Manufacturer pays each year under the agreement is determined by a complex formula. One component of that formula is the Non-Participating Manufacturer adjustment, which is potentially available in the event that all of the Participating Manufacturers in the aggregate lose more than two percentage points of market share compared to 1997. For the years 2003-2006, an economic consulting firm appointed under the Master Settlement Agreement has rendered its final and non-appealable decision that disadvantages experienced as a result of the MSA were a "significant factor contributing to" the market share loss of the Participating Manufacturers for 2003-2006. For 2007, 2008 and 2009, the Participating Manufacturers and the States have agreed that the States will not contest that the disadvantages of the MSA were a significant factor contributing to the Market Share Loss. Thus, no significant factor determination will be necessary with respect to the Participating Manufacturer's collective loss of market share for 2007, 2008 and 2009. States that prove they have diligently enforced their qualifying escrow statutes during all of a particular year will be able to avoid any application of the Adjustment to their payments for that year. The MSA Independent Auditor recently determined that the participating manufacturers collectively lost market share for 2010. A proceeding before an economic consulting firm with respect to a "significant factor" determination for 2010 loss of market share cannot be commenced until April 2012. Arbitration Agreement for 2003 PM USA and approximately 25 other Participating Manufacturers have entered into an arbitration agreement with 45 MSA States concerning the 2003 NPM Adjustment, including the States' claims of diligent enforcement for 2003. The selection of the Arbitration Panel for the 2003 NPM Adjustment was completed in July 2010 and the arbitration is currently ongoing. Proceedings to determine state diligent enforcement claims for 2004-2009 have not yet been scheduled. The availability and precise amount of any NPM Adjustment for 2003-2009 will not be finally determined until 2012 or thereafter. Reference: Philip Morris USA Makes Master Settlement Agreement Payment of Approximately $3.5 Billion, SOURCE: Philip Morris USA, (BUSINESS WIRE), 4/15/2011 RICHMOND, Va., Apr 15, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Read more...

The chief of the Montana First Nation been suspended after admitting her role in storing 14 million contraband cigarettes worth an estimated $7 million, were seized Thursday.

The cigarettes were found stored in a Quonset that belonged to the First Nation. Chief Carolyn Buffalo of the Montana First Nation did not deny that the cigarettes were in the possession of the First Nation.

Band members told CTV News Buffalo and band councillor Leonard Standingontheroad have both lost their roles with the band pending an investigation.

"I'll apologize as many times as I need to," said Buffalo. "The truth is we were trying to get our economy going because we have no money," said Buffalo.

The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission announced Fbeen suspended after admitting her role in storing 14 million contraband cigarettes from a storage building on the Montana First Nation near Wetaskiwin.